APB Speakers & Alzheimer’s Advocates Kim Campbell, Daughter Ashley Talk Separation Anxiety with Seniors in Long Term Care
04 Jun 2020
Widow of country music legend Glen Campbell, Kim Campbell has made it her personal mission to improve the quality of life for people with dementia and their caregivers. Along with her daughter Ashley Campbell, they set out to share their family’s journey with Alzheimer’s after Glen was diagnosed in 2011. Kim and Ashley recently joined a Zoom call with families who are not able to visit their loved ones in nursing homes due to the coronavirus.
Separation anxiety has set in for loved ones who are not able to visit their family due to this pandemic. “I would be so sad to not to be able to visit my dad in this situation because every day was a gift with him, and people are being robbed of those gifts of being with their loved ones,” said Glen’s youngest daughter Ashley. Families who joined the call learned firsthand about coping and caregiving during COVID-19. As June is brain health and Alzheimer’s awareness month, Kim shared her experiences with worried families, “Maybe they can take some comfort in knowing their loved one does not experience time in the same way that they do. Glen, if he were there, would not realize that one day had passed, a week had passed or one month had passed,” she said. “They’re living in the moment taking each day at a time.”
Kim and Ashely are determined to educate people about Alzheimer’s disease. Kim has made it her personal mission to improve the quality of life for people with dementia and their caregivers. Kim wrote a new memoir called Gentle on My Mind, which documents her marriage to Glen Campbell and his deterioration with Alzheimer’s. Ashley is now teaching banjo lessons on Skype and working on her music with event venues being closed.
Learn More About Kim Campbell and Ashely Campbell.